LUTHER star Idris Elba is going to be joining forces with the Oscar winning writer behind 12 Years A Slave for a new Sky Atlantic drama.

The 43-year-old actor will be working on the six-part series Guerrilla with John Ridley, who won an Oscar for best adapted screenplay for the movie in 2014.

Set in 1970s London, Guerrilla will follow the story of a couple whose relationship is pushed to the limits after they form a radical underground cell to challenge the government.

The cell will seek to take down the Black Power Desk, which was a real-life secretive counter-intelligence unit within the Special Branch and was dedicated to crushing all forms of black activism.

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Idris described John’s script as "nothing short of a masterclass in character building and storytelling. TV is in for a treat".

Guerrilla is just one of a raft of new shows being produced by the broadcaster, another one is Tin Star which features Tim Roth as a former Metropolitan Police officer called Jim Worth.

Despite leaving his life on the gritty streets of London for the idyllic evirons of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, his world is shattered when migrant workers bring trouble to the town and assassins are sent after his family.